


Kiss Me When You Get The Chance

by 22Bean22, Genocide_Doll



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff, Gay, Humour, M/M, Morgan doesn’t exist, Mutual Pining, Pepper dies in Endgame, Post-Endgame, Probably smut in the future, Tags to be added, Thor sister snapped instead, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, Truth or Dare, almost, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-23 11:18:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20339254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/22Bean22/pseuds/22Bean22, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genocide_Doll/pseuds/Genocide_Doll
Summary: With the battle over, the remaining Avengers are left to pick up the pieces, forced to live in the aftermath of the war.With Tony and Stephen caught up in their own guilt, how will they react when their paths collide in the most unexpected of ways?





	1. Strawberry Jam

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This work is something that we’re currently in the process of writing!
> 
> Let us know what you think in the comments below!
> 
> P.S) Things heat up in chapter three onwards :)

Tony was trying to enjoy his breakfast, he really was. Only a small amount of things gave him joy in the present day, and one of them was eating breakfast. However, the universe never failed to give a reminder of how much it hated him. 

There was a familiar sound from nearby, and out of the corner of his eye, Tony could see the distinctive sparks of the beginning of one of the wizard’s portals. 

An unwelcome shiver made its way down Tony’s spine, and he forced himself to keep his eyes focused on his toast as he began to spread his jam. 

“Man, that never gets old,” Sam’s voice came from one of the couches, confirming Tony’s suspicion of Strange entering the headquarters. 

Stupid Strange, with his stupid future-seeing and stupid plans, stupid portals and stupid facial hair. 

“Is that strawberry jam? Raspberry’s better.” 

And his stupid deep voice and stupid opinions on stupid things. 

Tony forced himself to keep calm, clenching his jaw without raising his eyes. 

“Thank you for that information, Strange, but I didn’t really ask for your opinion, especially not this early in the morning,” He said through gritted teeth.

“Well, you always seem like such a fan of spurting out irrelevant comments at the most inconvenient of times, so-“ 

Tony let the knife drop from his hands to clatter onto his plate as he finally raised his gaze to meet Strange’s stupidly blue eyes. 

“Boys, please, mommy’s got a headache, and she’s not in the mood for this right now,” remarked Clint contemptuously, as he gripped his mug of coffee with white knuckles.

“Give me a break, you sound like Natasha,” Snapped Tony, his gaze concentrated on the stoic expression of Strange.

“Wow. Smooth, Tony, real fucking smooth,” Clint fired, slamming down the mug and leaving.

Tony turned just in time to see the brooding figure of Clint, as he stalked away.

“Too soon, Tony. That was cold,” Came Sam’s voice again, bitter disappointment seeping through his words, “Next time keep your bitch fights between the two of you, instead of dragging the rest of us into it.”

“Now look what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” Tony forced a cold laugh from the back of his throat, both to convey his sheer hatred for the wizard, and to try and get rid of the bitter taste in his mouth as he realised the implications of what he had said to Clint. Maybe he could apologise later, but for now, he had to get rid of Strange. He couldn’t deal with this now.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Tony continued. “Why don’t we ‘look at what you’ve done?’” He leant against the counter, barely noticing as Sam let out a low whistle and backed out of the room, taking Clint’s coffee with him. 

Tony raised a finger as though he were counting. “You allowed Thanos to win the first time, causing half of the damn universe to be wiped out, including the kid-“ He realised that it might have been necessary, but that didn’t make it haunt him any less. “-Leaving this whole mess for the rest of us to deal with, you knew everything that was going to happen, and yet you didn’t even think to tell me.” 

He paused in fear of his voice cracking, numbly aware of how Strange hadn’t said a word since he began ranting. “You didn’t even think to tell me, so that I could’ve, I don’t know, said a proper goodbye to her. Heck, even done something, because was it really necessary for her to die?” 

Tony kept his glare on the man opposite, yet his eyes were focused on a point behind Strange, not sure of whether he could take looking into the wizard’s stupidly pained face at that moment.

Tony noticed something flash past Strange’s eyes. His lip twitched, as he stared stoically into Tony’s face. At last, he spoke.

“If I told you about Pepper, you would’ve tried to rescue her, screwing over everybody else’s chance of survival,” Strange drifted closer, closing the gap between them, “it was her or the rest of us Stark, and I don’t regret a thing.”

“I could’ve saved her!” Tony exploded, leaping from his seat.

His clenched fists slammed into Strange’s chest, catching him off guard. The force of Tony’s blow slammed Stephen into the wall, their faces inches away from each other.

Stephens cloak closed in around Tony’s fists, attempting to pry Stephen free, but Tony was relentless.

Tony wasn’t sure where his strength was coming from - his body had already been fairly weak before the battle, and coping with loss wasn’t physically healthy. But there was something about the wizard he had held against the wall that caused the blood in his veins to boil, caused the unwelcome adrenaline that pulsed through his being. 

Just as Strange opened his mouth to speak, no doubt something obnoxious, arrogant and stupid, someone entered the kitchen in a hurry. 

“Alright, why did Sam just run up to me shouting about a showdown in here, and why has Clint shut himself in the vents again- oh.” Steve seemed to find the answer to his question straight away, his piercing eyes landing on the other two men who were still pressed against the wall. Tony felt his face heat up - in anger, of course. 

Steve took a deep breath, folding his arms across his chest and tilting his head down, a knowing expression passing over his face. Tony had dubbed it ‘the mother look.’ 

“Good to see you again, Stephen.”

“You too, Mr Rogers.”

“Oh hey Cap, how was your run?” Tony asked, peeling his fingers off of Strange’s chest.

The goddamned wizard was lucky: Steve had shown up. A moment later, and a fist might have gone flying into Strange’s perfect face damaging his perfect teeth.

Reluctantly, Tony gritted his teeth, forcing himself to at least appear calm. 

“I’m going to my lab,” Tony muttered, not bothering to wait for a response from Steve.

There was something about that man. Something that made Tony’s skin crawl, something that put him on edge, something that he couldn’t figure out.

—————

“Not exactly a warm welcome, huh?” Steve said to Strange, a pitying look on his face.

“He’s just angry. He has every right to be.”

Steve’s hands were clasped in front of him as he leaned forwards on the couch, sincere eyes boring into Stephen’s. It was slightly disconcerting. 

“That may be true, but at the end of the day, you did what you had to in order to save the world,” Steve’s voice was heavy. “It’s something we’re all used to, including Tony. This one was just a little more personal for him, but he’ll get over it. Don’t worry about it too much.” 

“Oh, it doesn’t bother me,” Strange answered, ignoring the pang in his chest because, really, it did bother him. But the problem was, he didn’t know why. “I just don’t want my face to get smashed in. His notions were quite obvious.” 

Steve let out a small laugh, breaking their gaze. 

“Seriously though, just give him time. I’m not going to tell you to stay away from him, but if you do try talking, just be prepared for a repeat of what happened today.” 

Stephen nodded, his eyes on the floor. He had been prepared for this - to put aside all feelings and personal matters for the sake of the world. He didn’t regret his decision, and he never would, but there were certainly drawbacks. He just hadn’t expected Tony Stark to be one of them.

“He’ll warm up to me, right?” Stephen almost couldn’t believe he was saying this, “Tony means a lot to me, I have a lot of respect for him. I just hope we can build a better relationship, I suppose.”

Steve sighed, raising an eyebrow slightly, “Tony and I... haven’t really had the strongest relationship. But trust me, it’s better, so much better. You two are similar, you know? Both headstrong, confident. You guys will be great together some day.”

These words somewhat lifted Stephen’s hopes. Maybe they stood a chance, after all.


	2. Chicken Stir-Fry

Strange found an odd comfort in cooking. It wasn’t his favourite pastime, and he wasn’t particularly skilled at it, but he still enjoyed cooking. 

The kitchen was alive around him, vegetables floating through the air to land in pots that were gradually sliding into position on the oven. Strange was just checking his recipe when he became aware of someone else’s presence. Somehow, before they even spoke, he knew who it was. 

“You know, this still isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve seen happen in this kitchen.” 

Stephen turned, laying eyes on Tony for the first time since their ‘fight.’ 

“I’m cooking,” He answered simply. 

“Yeah, I can see that,” Tony paused, before crossing to the fridge, steering clear as a chopping board levitated from a cupboard. “Don’t let me bother your weird vegetable choreography, I’ll be gone in a second.” He retracted his arm, a packet of blueberries in his grasp, before making his way towards the exit. 

Stephen called out before he could stop himself. 

“Hey, Tony? I was actually wondering if we could talk.” 

Tony’s back remained turned to him, but Strange could clearly see his shoulders stiffen. 

“Well, fine. Just make sure those onions stay away from my eyes.”

“I just wanted to apologise for the other day. I haven’t been round much since we fought, because I was... ashamed, I guess. I’m sorry about what I said, if I could take it back without compromising the laws of time and time travel, I would.”

Tony’s shoulders slumped, as he turned to pull up a bar stool. He sat down, carefully selecting his blueberries. After a long, dragged out silence, Tony spoke.

“Okay.”

Stephen sighed. What was he expecting, I guess.

“I accept your apology,” Tony continued, a mouthful of blueberries, “But theres one thing that’s pissing me off.”

“Oh?”

“You’re not using a knife to cut the vegetables, that would be a lot quicker, you know.”

Stephen turned around, and the floating objects halted in mid air. His eye twitched in contempt.

“Why don’t you do it, if you have so much to say?”

Tony raised his hands in a defensive gesture. He slid off the bar stool, finishing the last of his blueberries and throwing the empty packet in the bin. 

“Fine,” He said, turning and giving Stephen an almost teasing look. “I’ll show you what real cooking is like.” 

As it turned out, Tony wasn’t all that good. He wasn’t bad, either, but he kept getting jumpy when one of Strange’s floating vegetables nudged him in their passing. 

“Jesus Christ, you really can’t just do it with your hands?” Tony complained, slamming his knife down onto the chopping board as a red pepper hovered over his shoulder.

Sensing Strange’s silence, the other man spared a glance in his direction, his eyes immediately drawn to the way the wizard’s hands shook uncontrollably in their place by his sides. 

“Oh...” Tony said quietly, his voice barely above a murmur. It was unlike how Stephen had ever heard him speak before, lacking all arrogance and sharpness, instead replaced with a soft realisation. 

“Yeah,” was all Strange could manage to say, resisting the urge to hide his hands behind his back. Thankfully, Tony didn’t ask anything else about that, and only nudged the vegetables in return when they passed him. 

“Hey, I think it’s nearly ready,” Stephen stated, as the last few chunks of carrots were flung into the pot.

“It looks good,” Tony replied, glad that the conversational topic had changed.

“We can sit down for a bit while we wait.”

The two sat in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. The tension in the air was thick, so thick that a knife could slice through it. It didn’t help that there was something between the two, despite them not knowing what it was.

“Hey, I’m sorry too,” Tony confessed, “Slamming you into the wall was kind of a dick move.”

“It’s okay, I found it kind of hot, to be honest.” Strange mumbled lazily.

“Did I hear you correctly?”

“Kidding, Stark, it’s called humour.” Stephen responded, a hint of a smile creeping onto his face.

“I know, I just didn’t think the Sorcerer Supreme could be so immature.”

Strange sighed, forever a victim of Stark’s imaginative nicknames. They lapsed back into silence, with the only noise in the room being the steady sizzling of their preparing dish. 

Then, Tony spoke. 

“I mean, if you did find it hot, I guess I wouldn’t mind doing it again.” 

Stephen’s neck whipped around so quickly that he could have received whiplash, if not for his shock permanently rooting him to the ground. 

“What?” He said, not bothering to try and make a witty remark. 

“What?” Tony shot back. 

“What?” Strange was suddenly aware of how close they were, and how they seemed to be inching even closer. “Did you just flirt with me?”

“I think you flirted with me first.” 

“Well, we’d already established that it was a joke,” Strange gritted his teeth, both compelled to back away and to close the distance between them. He could see the same conflict in Tony’s eyes. 

“Then mine was a joke too.” 

They were so close now that he could feel Tony’s breath against his skin, could see details of his face that he’d never taken in before. 

Just a few more inches, and then they would be- 

“Hey guys, are you cooking something?” 

Strange leapt backwards so fast that he could have sworn he levitated for a moment, while Tony braced himself against the counter and let out a vivid string of curses. Both of them froze when they realised who was standing in the doorway. 

Tony was the first to act, raising a hand in the kid’s direction. “Pete, forget all of those words I just said-“

“-I’m sixteen, Mr Stark, I know what swear words are,” Peter answered, his wide-eyed gaze travelling between the two shaken men in front of him before landing on the pot. “Oh, chicken stir fry! Nice!”

“Mr Parker, good to see you. Could I offer you a plate?” Stephen responded, smoothly recovering the rather awkward situation.   
  
“That would be great, thanks, Mr Doctor!” Peter beamed, digging through the cupboards for a plate of some sorts.   
  
Stephen flashed a glance at Tony, to which he turned to face the ground refusing to meet eyes with the man.   
  
“Thanks, guys!” Peter exclaimed, before bounding up the stairs with his plate of stir fry.   
  
“That was quite the interruption,” Stephen said, looking for any way to rekindle the conversation.   
  
“I don’t know what you mean,” Tony replied blankly, tapping his nails on the counter nonchalantly.   
  
“What? Just then, Peter walking in on us-“   
  
“Peter didn’t walk in on anything, Strange, so drop it,” Tony snapped, the words dripping off of his tongue like poison.   
  
Had Strange misread the situation? He was almost certain that something was going on, regardless of whether either of them wanted it. So why was Tony acting like this?

He was just debating on whether to voice his question or not, when Tony crossed to help himself to the stir fry. Stephen watched silently, taking in the other’s pent-up expression.    
  
Tony clearly didn’t want to believe that anything had just happened, judging by the obvious way in which he tried to avoid making eye contact with Strange. This was unusual. Normally Tony Stark wouldn’t avoid a confrontation, especially when it was with Stephen.    
  
In the end, Stephen had to put it down to Pepper. If something really had happened between them, then Tony’s girlfriend would certainly be lingering painfully in his mind.    
  
He didn’t want to fight about that again, even if it caused a tense rift between the two from things left unspoken. Instead, Strange watched wordlessly as Tony left the room, before beginning to levitate the washing up and put the stir fry in the fridge.    
  
He’d lost his appetite.


	3. Truth Or Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now this is where it get’s interesting ;)

“Hey guys, why don’t we play a game?”

Not everyone responded enthusiastically to Steve’s comment. Many rolled their eyes, some snorted, and Rhodes just straight up left the room. Steve’s hopeful attempt at lightening the mood seemed almost pointless, until-

“I’ll play!” Peter piped up, seeming to notice the rather hostile environment.

“If the kids playing, I’m in,” Tony grunted, gesturing to Peter, who seemed to be vibrating with excitement.

The last time they’d played a game like this, Peter hadn’t exactly been... around.

“Fu- Screw it, I’m in too,” Clint gulped, avoiding the piercing death stare from Tony.

“What are we exactly playing, might I ask?” Wanda questioned, her eyebrow raised as if to point out the obvious.

“Why don’t we play truth or dare?” Tony countered, “After all, It’s Steve’s favourite game. Remember the last time Steve, remember what you did-“

“Okay! Truth or dare it is!” Steve announced, clasping his hands together.

If the air conditioning wasn’t full blast, Tony was almost certain that a bead of sweat would have dropped down Steve’s forehead. Everybody else seemed to have the same look of shock, as if they couldn’t believe Tony would bring ‘that’ up again.

“I’ll join in too, this reminds me of when I would play with my Asgardian friends,” Came Thor’s stoic voice from the corner of the room.

“Me too,” said Bucky.

“Count me in!” Sam chimed in.

“I’ll play too.”

Everybody turned to the glowing yellow portal, as Stephen emerged, cloak billowing behind him. He seemed to have portalled from somewhere windy downtown.

“If that’s everyone, let’s play!” Peter exclaimed.

“Who’s starting, then?” Steve asked as Strange settled himself into the room. Tony purposefully kept his eyes on the table. 

“I say that the Spider-boy does, seeing as he’s so eager,” Thor suggested, raising his glass of beer in Peter’s direction. The kid’s eyes widened as though he’d just been acknowledged by a God - which he had, and didn’t even bother to correct Thor. Tony couldn’t help but feel slightly stroppy at that, if he referenced to Peter as Spider-boy or Spiderling, he’d never hear the end of it. 

Peter seemed to recover quickly, as he turned to Steve and Bucky who were reclining together on one of the sofas. “Alright, this is kind of a question for both of you, but... What is an old people thing that you guys really miss?” 

Steve was the first to react, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to ask ‘truth or dare’ first?” 

“I know, but I’ve been wanting to ask this for a while!” 

“You’re not going to respond to how he called us ‘old people?’” Bucky added, throwing Steve a questioning gaze. 

The other man shrugged. “It’s true.” 

“I guess,” Bucky sighed, shuffling slightly before answering. “I kind of miss the phones to be honest... Steve and I used to call each other sometimes, when we could, duty and everything got in the way, but-“ 

“Oh, I know those!” Peter interrupted excitedly. “They look really cool! Have you guys seen the film ‘101 Dalmatians?’ Because the villain uses one at some point, and I always thought they were-“ 

“Okay, but can we focus on how Bucky and Steve would literally have been like a couple in one of those cheesy romance movies where they phone each other up on those old ass rotary dials?” Tony interrupted, throwing both of the men a teasing look as they let out matching sighs of discomfort.

“Oh come on Tony, not this again,” Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair, “I want a turn now, Clint, truth or dare?”

“Dare, truth is for puss- wimps,” Clint settled, eyeing Tony, who gave him a slight nod of approval.

“Okay then,” Steve pondered, “Dramatically propose to Wanda, if she doesn’t laugh, then eat a spoonful of vinegar.”

“Are you kidding me, Steve?” Clint shot back, “So be it.”

Clint sighed, rising from his seat and turning to Wanda, who was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. 

“I kind of need to get down on one knee in front of you, so-“ 

“I don’t really want to stand up,” Wanda answered, giving him a small smile. 

“Wow, really making this easy for me, aren’t you?” Clint grumbled, tugging at the hem of his shirt. He slowly shifted on to one knee, the movement appearing to use up far more energy than it should have, seeing as he was a physically-trained spy. 

“Wanda, you are...” He trailed off, and the woman in front of him raised a questioning eyebrow. “Your powers are scarlet, so you’re like a, um... red sun, all hot and bright and stuff... You’re the centre of my universe, and-“ 

“That’s not how astronomy works,” Peter whispered quietly, before being hurriedly shushed by Sam, who was staring at the scene which had unfolded in front of him. 

“-And so because I need a centre of my universe, will you marry me?” 

There was a pause in the room, before Wanda said flatly, “Clint, don’t worry, I’m not going to tell any of this to your wife.” 

“Wanda, Jesus Christ I told you to stop reading my thoughts-“ 

“Your facial expressions were so good that I couldn’t help myself.” 

“Right, well you definitely failed,” Tony announced loudly. “I really hope you didn’t propose to Laura like that, Clint.” 

The man scoffed as he stood up, beginning to make his way reluctantly to the kitchen to get the vinegar, when suddenly a small vial of it appeared in front of his face. 

“I didn’t think you’d succeed, so I levitated one out in advance,” Strange explained, causing Clint to let out a groan as he grasped the vial. 

“Great, even the magic man doubted me.”

Clint seized the vial, tipping it back in one go. His face crinkled in disgust as the substance slipped down his throat, something that Tony couldn’t help but find amusing. A small giggle escaped Tony, to which Clint whipped round to death stare him.

“Tony, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Tony sighed, rolling his eyes, “I don’t really feel like exerting much energy right now.”

“Brilliant,” Clint replied, sitting down in an armchair with his legs over the arm rest, “Which person in this room do you find the most attractive, and why?”

“Ah, I should have expected something like this,” Tony took a sip of his wine, gently swishing it around the glass, “Could you really not come up with anything better?”

“Answer the question, Mr Stark,” Peter grinned, his eyes shining brightly.

“Yeah, stop avoiding the question,” Sam chipped in.

Tony huffed, surveying the room. Everyone there was fairly attractive, he would admit, although only one person really caught his eye. He took a deep breath, and set down his wine glass.

“Well, it’s Steve of course,” Tony finally answered, “He’s basically engineered to look perfect, so of course it’s him.”

Steve blushed, his face tinged pink with embarrassment. Bucky seemed impressed, as he clapped Steve on the back in mock praise. Everybody seemed content with Tony’s answer, if not a little disappointed at the obvious. Well, almost everybody.

“He’s lying.”

All heads turned to Wanda.

“What did you just say?”

“I said he’s lying,” Wanda repeated, inhaling sharply. She turned to stare at Tony.

“Aren’t you, Stark?”

Tony had never felt so betrayed and violated in his life. 

“Miss Maximoff,” He spoke through gritted teeth, “I think you must be mistaken-“

Sam made a tutting noise as he shook his head, leaning forward in his chair. “No way. The girl has telepathy, Tony, she knows what’s up, even if you don’t.” 

“Who is it, then?” Peter asked eagerly, his gaze flitting excitedly between Wanda and Tony. 

“No, it’s Steve, as I said, I wouldn’t lie when it’s a truth.” 

“Don’t doubt the magic, Tony,” Strange spoke, causing heat to rise into Tony’s face as he turned on the wizard. 

“Alright, you can be quiet-“ 

“He’s blushing, guys,” Clint announced, seeming to enjoy someone else’s suffering. “I have good eyes and can see it from here, Tony Stark is blushing.” 

“Clint, you’re a goddamn archer, it doesn’t work like that-“ 

“You are blushing pretty heavily, Tony,” Steve said, giving a smile that could almost pass as being sympathetic. 

“No, nope, not blushing, no way. This is anger, because that man over there irritates me with his existence-“ 

“Yes, he definitely sees the warlock as being the most attractive!” Thor cheered. “The signs are clear.” 

Just to add fuel to their little campaign, Wanda gave a nod, along with a little thumbs up of approval. Both Sam and Clint whooped, while Bucky made a little ‘ooh’ noise. Tony didn’t look at Stephen. 

“God, you’re all such... children...” Tony groaned, taking a long sip of his wine. 

“In my defence, I am still a kid,” Peter piped up helpfully.

“Moving swiftly onwards-“ Tony urged, furrowing his brow. God, he really was blushing; he could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks.

“Thor, truth or dare?”

“Let’s go for a truth, shall we.”

Tony racked his brains for something cruel and tormenting. Sure, Thor hadn’t been the one to embarrass him, but Tony would do anything he could to shift the attention off of him and onto somebody else.

“Which person here would be best in bed?”

All eyes turned to Tony, this time for another reason. At this moment, Peter had just attempted to take a sip of his drink, only for it to be very nearly spat out upon hearing the question. He swallowed hastily, trying to act as if he hadn’t understood the question. Playing dumb, if you will.

“Ah, let’s see... me of course!” Thor declared, raising his empty pint glass. It was refilled astonishingly quick, much to the help of Strange.

“Do care to explain?” Sam teased, as the other Avengers let out soft chuckles. Even Wanda let out a giggle.

“Why, I’m over one thousand five hundred years old, that’s at least one thousand four hundred longer than the rest of you,” Thor continued, eyeing Bucky and Steve, “Therefore I’ve had the most experience.”

“Oh really?” Clint purred, a dirty look on his face.

“Now now, the kid’s still here,” Steve reminded them.

“Yeah, speaking of, May texted me,” Peter sighed, standing up, “I’ve got to go home now, it’s getting late.”

“Bye, Peter!”

“Goodbye, Mr Stark!”

The rest echoed him, bidding him farewell.

“Now this is when the game gets interesting,” Bucky murmured, much to the surprise of everybody else.

“Don’t get too excited, Bucky,” Wanda responded.

“Sorcerer, truth or dare?” Thor asked, resuming the game.

“I’ll take a dare,” Strange replied.

Tony studied his face, looking for any hint of what he was feeling. He glanced at Wanda, who was also gazing intently at Stephen. She showed no signs of emotion, something that didn’t help Tony. How was he supposed to figure him out?

“I dare you to kiss Stark.”


	4. Arrogant, Vain, Stubborn & Over-dramatic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was pretty short :/
> 
> We’re working on the next part though :)

Stephen’s calculations had been wrong. He’d assumed that picking dare was the safer option, after he observed the fallout of everybody else’s answers, more specifically Tony’s. What really drew attention to Tony’s answer, was how he’d blatantly lied when caught out by Wanda. This only seemed to escalate the situation in itself, more so than if he were to just tell the truth.

And now here he was, stuck in a room full of watchful eyes, anxiously awaiting a response. 

After hesitating for a moment, he finally managed to raise his eyes to meet Tony’s. The other man’s gaze was blank, his lips pressed firmly together as he stared at the wall opposite. Strange wondered, briefly, if he had just stopped working, like one of his machines. 

Stephen wasn’t entirely sure of what he should say, what he should do. Tony fixed that problem by standing up with such sudden force that he almost knocked over his wine glass. 

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go join Rhodes,” he announced loudly, for all of the room to hear. 

“Aw, you chickening out?” Sam cooed. “Come on, that’s not fair. Not in the middle of a round.” 

“The round can carry on without me, just give him another dare.” Tony didn’t waste time in leaving, not allowing anyone else to get a word in. A silence was left in his wake, and Strange tried to get rid of the empty feeling that had settled in his chest since Tony had left. He didn’t understand it, and therefore he wouldn’t pay attention to it. 

“You heard the man. Give me another dare.”

—————

“-and then he dared him to kiss me!”

“What’s wrong with that?” Rhodes deadpanned.

Tony was currently splayed across Rhodey’s armchair, his legs propped up over one of the arms. Miraculously, Tony had remembered to bring his glass of wine, but not Rhodey’s strict rule about knocking before entering, much to the annoyance of Rhodey himself.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong with that?’ It’s Stephen fucking Strange!” Tony cried, exasperated, “I don’t want to kiss that man. I despise him, and he’s so irritating!”

“Tony,” Rhodey quirked an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe he’s not that bad, and I’ll admit, I wouldn’t mind, maybe, hypothetically, kissing him,” Tony exhaled, “But I can’t take my mind off of Pepper.”

Rhodey’s unamused expression softened slightly at that, and Tony shuffled in his seat. He didn’t want sympathy, at least, not for Pepper. He did want sympathy for the traumatic experience he had just been put through downstairs, and yet Rhodes was refusing to give that to him. 

“Listen, Tony, it’s been three months. I know it’s hard, but it’s time to think about moving on. It’s what Pepper would have wanted.” 

“But is it? She’s dead, Rhodes, we have no idea what she  _ would  _ have wanted. All we do know is that she’s gone, and it’s because of… him,” Tony pointed his finger downwards, and knew that Rhodey understood who he was talking about just from the way his eyebrow quirked again. 

“You can’t blame Strange for all of this, Tony, and you know it. Listen, I get that this is a rough time for you with everything that’s happening, but honestly, I think you’re failing to realise that there are some emotions you’re holding onto that you need to deal with.”

“Then tell me, oh great therapist,” Tony shot back, putting on a theatrical voice. “What should I do to handle these ‘emotions’ that you speak of?”

Rhodes sighed. “You’re a smart guy. I’ll let you figure it out yourself.”

—————

As the hot water hit his back, Strange leant against the wall, letting the droplets trickle past his furrowed eyebrows. The water seemed to flush away his stress and tension, but it did nothing for the non-stop thoughts, lurking at the back of his mind.

What better time to address these thoughts than in the shower.

Today’s events had taken a toll on Strange, leaving him with questions that he’d rather remain unanswered, let alone asked in the first place. For example, was Strange really prepared to kiss Tony? The thought had crossed his mind, but his answer was insignificant regardless, due to the nature of Tony fleeing the scene.

Stephen couldn’t help but let the idea of kissing Tony consume him, just the thought of being with a man like Tony. Just the thought of being with a  _ man _ .

This wasn’t something Strange had ever really questioned himself on, much less experienced. 

His education and work to become a surgeon had left him with no time to think about love, and when he had to quit his job, new tasks of saving the universe took up all of his time and thoughts. But now, when all seemed to be so conveniently quiet, his feelings were beginning to run wild, and had decided to latch themselves onto Tony Stark.

Tony Stark of all people - could he really feel this way about Tony Stark? 

Tony was arrogant, vain, stubborn and over dramatic. He annoyed Strange to no end, and yet there was something about him that kept him on Strange’s mind. He wanted to stop thinking about it, and yet he couldn’t. He just couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. 

Stephen shook his head, as if that would help clear the thoughts, and forced himself to continue washing his hair. He would end up wasting all of the hot water if he didn’t. Once he felt content with that, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, before his gaze darted up to the mirror to look at his reflection, his face. His face that, apparently, Tony found the best-looking out of the Avengers. 

No, Strange was thinking too much about it again. He wasted no time in stepping out of the bathroom and going to bed.


	5. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to comment suggestions :)

In the aftermath of the war, not much had happened in terms of needing to save the world. It almost seemed like everyone had taken a step back to process the past five years events.

Strange certainly took time to process everything. Sometimes, he even woke in a cold sweat, reassuring himself that they’d won. Having lived through so many different endings, it was almost hard to believe that this one was real.

Of course, with the lack of bad guys, this left the entire Avengers team at a loss, their otherwise busy lives at a stand still. Those like Clint, Scott and Peter all had family to care for and spend time with, but for the others? Life was almost meaningless at this point.

As Tony stalked the same corridor for the third time, he came to a halt as he saw the figure of Stephen Strange splayed on one of the couches. He must have only just arrived, as Tony had passed this room before, except the previous times it was empty. 

His thoughtful pacing was pointless anyway; Tony sauntered to the couch opposite, deciding not to let his embarrassing encounter a the night before affect his confident demeanour.

Strange looked up, and Tony found himself frustrated when he couldn’t read the other man’s gaze. The wizard had always been hard to figure out, underneath the arrogant exterior, and Tony was getting even more fed up because of that than before.

He wasn’t sure why he wanted to know what Strange was thinking so badly. Perhaps it was because he, himself, had no clue about how he felt on the whole situation. 

“Why are you here?” Tony asked after a small silence. He refused to break the stare, and Strange seemed to be just as stubborn, his eyes boring into Tony’s. 

“I’m not allowed to be here?” 

“No. I’m just wondering if there’s a reason. Usually you’re throwing pans around the kitchen with your freakish powers, or insulting my jam preferences.”

“Well,” Stephen sighed, shuffling. “If you must know, I actually wanted to talk.”

“Oh, god forbid.”

“Be quiet, you child, this is something serious.”

Tony felt himself sober up, although he’d never really been in a joking mood in the first place. He had an idea of what Strange wanted to talk about. 

“You know what happened last night-“ 

Tony’s suspicions were correct, unfortunately. He was just too smart. 

“-I wanted to check on the reason why you left.”

“Why I left?” Tony echoed, thinking back to his vent-off to Rhodey. “Why do you think I left?” 

“Because you were uncomfortable?” Strange questioned back, unknowingly giving Tony his escape route. 

“Yes, of course I was uncomfortable,” Tony sighed, making it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world, despite how he questioned every word himself. “You seriously think I’d want to kiss you?”

—————

That hurt. It really did. It hurt more than it was supposed to. Strange brushed it off, not letting his facade slip.

“Oh I don’t know, perhaps you saying that I was the most attractive person in the room gave me a small indication-“

“Stop talking!” Tony blurted.

“-that you might want to kiss me when given the chance…” Stephen trailed off.

Tony closed his eyes as he drew in a breath. He exhaled, eyebrow twitching.

“And what if I did?” Tony began, “What if I did kiss you when you were dared to? What would you have done?”

—————

What would Strange have done? He thought about it, carefully, trying to use Tony’s question to plough on through the muddled thoughts in his mind. 

Maybe he would have kissed Tony back. Maybe he would have been shaken by it, but strangely enjoyed the experience and wanted to continue, and maybe he would have closed his eyes and- 

“Just what I thought,” Tony spoke into the silence, cutting Strange off mid-thought. There was something like acceptance in Tony’s eyes, and perhaps Strange was just seeing an illusion, but the other man almost seemed to be disappointed. 

Stephen felt as though he’d missed an opportunity, and before he could stop himself, he’d leant forwards and closed the gap between them. 

Tony pulled away before Stephen could even register what it felt like, whether his abstract thoughts that kept him up at night had been correct. He took a step back, feeling the realisation of what he had just done dawn on him, and forced himself to meet Tony’s stare.

What disturbed him most was that he had no idea what that raw, indecipherable emotion was on Tony’s face, but Strange knew that he was the cause for it.

“I should go.”

—————

The wizard had left wordlessly after that comment. He’d fled past Tony, presumably into the corridor where he was safe to portal away, knowing that Tony wouldn’t be staring the entire time. Stephen’s departure left Tony with a pit of confusion welling in his stomach and the scene earlier flashing before his eyes.

Stephen had tried to kiss him. Stephen Strange. Tony mumbled these words out loud, letting the realisation fully set in. Stephen Strange had tried to kiss him. And Tony pulled away.

He cursed himself. Part of him truly wished that he’d returned his advances, to feel that delicate touch of his lips against his own. Part of him wished that Stephen would let his scarred hands trail down his chest, past his waistband, beneath his belt, and-

Part of him knew it was wrong.

Every indulgent fantasy of Tony’s always left a taste of guilt in his mouth, the looming thought of Pepper, and her sacrifice for him.

Tony knew Pepper would want him to be happy, he really did, but this felt like a betrayal beyond that.

Not only was Tony conflicted, but his own thoughts centering on Strange left him feeling hateful. Did it have to be him?

Tony wasn’t stupid. He knew attraction wasn’t a choice, but god forbid his sick twisted brain had come up with a new cruel joke. 

Stephen fucking Strange. Of all people.

—————

As soon as Stephen entered his home, he had to sit down. He leant back into the couch, staring at the space ahead of him, wondering how he would ever live that off.

He’d just tried to kiss Tony Stark, and Tony Stark had pulled away. Of course he had, the man had said it himself: ‘do you really think I’d want to kiss you?’ Strange had just messed up, misread the signs, let an unfamiliar feeling drive him to do something that he never would have dreamed of before. 

He’d just tried to kiss Tony Stark. And Tony Stark was a man. Stephan had never really thought about romance, pouring himself into studies, work, and later, his duties to protect the world. He’d never considered dating, really, and the thought of dating a man had never even crossed his mind. Now, he was not only questioning what had possessed him to do that and what he should do next, but also his own sexuality.

And, he had just tried to kiss Tony Stark. Tony Stark, who was probably one of the most infuriating people on the planet. Tony Stark, who was still grieving over the loss of his wife, the death of which he blamed Strange for. 

Heaving a sigh, Stephen left his living room and went to bed, trying to sleep and erase all thoughts of Tony Stark from his mind.


End file.
